Legal and Professional Malpractice

Sometimes attorneys and other professionals like accountants make mistakes that cause their clients or others damages.

When the person would not have suffered those damages but for the mistake of the lawyer, the person may have a legal malpractice case worth pursuing. We make legal malpractice claims against lawyers who have made mistakes in the handling of cases in the areas of bankruptcy, personal injury, creditor harassment, collection lawsuit defense, employment discrimination and other areas of the law. We also represent others who have been harmed by the wrongdoing of other professionals, other than doctors or other medical professionals.

Importance of consulting with a malpractice attorney as soon as a problem is suspected

Many good legal malpractice claims are lost because people wait too long to pursue them.

Suits against attorneys, like almost all suits, are subject to statutes of limitation which provide a timeframe within which a legal malpractice claim must be filed in court. Generally, suits for malpractice must be filed within 2 years of when the breach of duty by the attorney occurs. In some cases, the statute of limitations can be 4 years from the breach of duty. Under certain circumstances, the limitations period can be tolled or extended beyond the normal period by the discovery rule or fraudulent concealment.

Under the discovery rule, if a person could not have known of the malpractice by the attorney even if he were diligent and made reasonable inquiries during the limitations period, that period of time can effectively be extended. In a fraudulent concealment situation, the attorney, through fraud or concealment, causes the party who was harmed to relax his vigilance and inquiry by concealing facts or misleading the person about the breach of duty or damage that has occurred. This conduct can prevent the attorney in a malpractice case from being able to assert the expiration of the statute of limitations as a defense. Generally, the attorney continuing to represent the harmed party or if the case within which the malpractice occurred is still ongoing does not toll or extend the limitations period. The limitations period is also not tolled by any appeals of adverse decisions to a different court.

Since it can be difficult to calculate both the beginning and the end of a statute of limitations, the best practice is to contact a malpractice attorney as soon as you suspect that something has gone wrong with the representation.

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